Always Too Sweet
by DiAnna44
Summary: Nico didn't even like the coffee there much, but it didn't matter because of one reason. Of course, the very attractive Percy was not that reason. Of course he was. Nico a freshman in college who always goes to a certain coffee shop. Percy a third year in college who works at a certain coffee shop. What could go wrong? Nico x Percy. Prepare for angst and humor like whoa. AU
1. part I

**part I**

* * *

Nico didn't even like the coffee there that much. He really didn't.

Usually, it was just a bit too sweet and the taste was always kind of off. But it didn't matter how many times he told himself that he should just go to a different café to get his coffee, he never did. Of course, the very attractive Percy was not the cause of that.

Of course he was.

When Nico came in for the first time a few months ago, just moving to the city for the local college, he just wandered in and there he was. Now, Nico wasn't gay as much as he was straight. He was in between, varying on different guys and girls but all of them had just been crushes. So when he met Percy for the first time, he knew he had a crush right away.

Percy, in his opinion, was everything he wanted to be. Percy had exactly the right amount of kindness in him, and his looks were just perfect with his sea-green eyes and shaggy bordering-between-black-and-brown hair. He was almost always smiling and he was sociable enough to be considered friendly but not too sociable to be considered annoying.

Of course, this is what Nico has gathered over the few months he's been coming here even though he barely exchanged words with Percy at all…he was too sociably awkward to do that so all he did was thank him for the coffee and sit down to watch him (not too obviously though).

Nico walked in, causing the bell at the top of the door to ring, alerting the staff of his presence. He watched as Percy looked up and gave him a wide smile. Percy automatically went to work, already having Nico's preferred drink of choice memorized. Nico reached for his wallet, pulling out the exact change.

When Nico arrived at the desk, he smiled shyly at Percy who was grinning at him.

"How are you Nico?" Percy asked. Percy was in his third year of college, while Nico was just a freshman. He was sure Percy looked at Nico as some sort of accomplice-friend person. After all, they only talked in this very café.

"I'm good. You?" Nico asked, trying to limit his words to next to none. Percy's smile widened, making Nico's heart to lurch.

"I'm good too. I'm taking my girlfriend out for a date today and it's been a while since we could hang out so I'm pretty psyched," he informed Nico happily. Nico forced back his flinch. He knew Percy had a girlfriend.

In fact he's met her once when she visited Percy in the shop as a surprise. Nico liked her. Her name was Annabeth and she said exactly what was on her mind and the first thing she ever said to Nico was how much she liked his jacket. He had smiled shyly at her when it happened, unsure of how to respond. He had watched from his usual spot Percy and Annabeth talk and laugh like usual couples do and then she was gone, waving goodbye to the both of them as she walked out.

Nico zoned back in on the present, and reminded himself of what Percy had just said.

"Oh that's cool. Hope it's fun," he managed to say. Percy gave him a weird look, but otherwise smiled.

"Here's your usual, Nico di Angelo," Percy said, handing him his coffee.

"Here's the usual amount, Percy Jackson…" Nico mumbled as he handed over the money. Percy gave him a wink and Nico turned quickly before Percy could see him blush.

_Stupid crushes_, Nico cursed to himself as he gripped his coffee before seating himself down.

It was like this every day.

* * *

Percy wasn't at work today. That was the first thing he noticed as he walked through the doors. Nico frowned at the replacement, Luke, who he only ever saw on the days Percy wasn't there, which was on Wednesdays and Saturdays, not Tuesdays. The bell rang, as usual, and Luke looked up.

"Well if it isn't Nico! How you been, man?" Luke called out. Nico blushed, glancing around wildly, relieved to see no one was even in the café. He hated having the attention on him.

"Oh I'm good. Yeah. I forgot something. I need to go. Sorry," Nico stuttered out. Luke grinned.

"Nah it's okay. I understand. I'm not Percy so figured you'd say something like that. See you, Nico!" he said.

_Not Percy? What was he suggesting?!_ Nico exclaimed to himself, as he stumbled out of the café. _Did he know something?!_

Nico blushed at the thought, but kept walking. He couldn't just go back in and confront Luke about it anyways. He just hoped Percy didn't know anything.

* * *

The next day, Nico almost walked in before remembering it was Wednesday and that Percy didn't work on Wednesdays.

Nico sighed to himself and turned to leave, but stopped short when he noticed Annabeth a ways back, staring at the store with an expression he couldn't place. Nico started to panic, not sure if he wanted to be seen by Annabeth, but before he could hide himself, Annabeth noticed him.

"Nico?" she called out, running up to him. Nico looked down. _Damnit_.

"Annabeth?" he asked, trying his best to sound surprised too.

"Hey Nico! What are you doing in here?" Nico saw her smile, but for some reason it was strange. It seemed forced, as if she was hiding a sadness of some kind.

"Oh uhm…I just stopped by to get some coffee…and…"

"Is Percy in there?" she asked, peeking over Nico's shoulder. Nico scrunched his nose at her. Either it was bad of her to not know her boyfriend's schedule or it was bad of him to have it memorized. He figured it was the latter.

"Oh no, he's off today," he informed her, trying to overcome his awkwardness. _Why doesn't she just call him if she wants to see him?_

"Ah," she said, looking down at her feet. Nico knew it. Something is not right here.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, trying his best to sound somewhat concerned. He was worried, to be honest, because he was afraid that the reason she was so worried might have been the reason Percy didn't come in yesterday. School was on break now, so he knew it wasn't that. He wanted to know why Percy was off yesterday….

"Eh yeah, it's fine. Don't worry about it Nico. Well see you later!" she said, turning to leave. Before Nico could respond, she was gone from sight, and he sighed, still wanting to know what was going on.

_Oh well. _

_It's not like it was my business anyways, _he thought sourly to himself.

* * *

Nico stood in front of the café door, suddenly feeling very nervous.

Percy should be here today, but he wasn't sure what he would do if he weren't. Percy, from his experience, only took sick days when it was an emergency, so what could have been going on?

He took a deep breath, and opened the door, hearing the familiar ping of the bell. His eyes immediately focused on Percy, who was standing there in his usual place, but unlike other days, he looked strange. His hair, which was usually in a shaggy in a _good _kind of way, now looked messy but_ not_ in a good way. He had huge bags under his eyes, but that wasn't the thing that disturbed Nico the most.

It was the fact that Percy was not smiling, and the fact that Percy did not look up when he walked in. Nico stood there, completely still and unsure of how to act. Should he just leave? Did he really want his image of "perfect" Percy to disappear in his mind? Nico shook his head, determining that that was absolutely ridiculous. Percy could have bad days too.

Nico walked up to the register and it wasn't until he was completely in front of Percy did Percy look up. The look in Percy's eyes destroyed him.

"Can I have number six please?" Nico asked, numb to how he should act. Percy simply nodded, devoid of any emotion.

"Yeah. That'll be $4.50," Percy said. Nico nodded. He knew that. He knew that Percy knew he knew that as well. He pulled out the amount of money that he paid every day and handed it to Percy hesitantly. Their hands brushed and Nico had to contain his shiver. Percy was not himself. At. All.

Nico stood there, awkwardly, waiting for his coffee.

The crappy thing about this café was that it was so unpopular that there was almost no one ever there. Plus, the workers usually ranged from one to three, and right now it seemed to be just Percy manning the shop. Nico didn't know what to say or how to react to this kind of situation.

He was always used to the smiling Percy. The super nice Percy. The Percy that seemed to never have one bad day, but this…this proved all of those Percy's wrong. This Percy seemed broken and lost, and Nico didn't know why. Just the other day he had been so happy about going on his date with Annabeth an—Nico stopped his thoughts midway.

_Annabeth_!

It had to do something with her! She was here the other day with that weird look on her face. Plus she hadn't been acting like herself either. Did something happen between the two of them?

Before he knew what he was doing, Nico blurted out, "How was your date with Annabeth?" Nico's eyes widened as his nosiness and immediately he shifted his gaze down to the very interesting floor. What he didn't expect was Percy's response.

"That's none of your damn business Nico," he practically snarled. Nico, hurt and shocked, simply stared at him. He watched as Percy's face transformed into something that looked like remorse, but as soon as Percy handed him the coffee, Nico fled. Obviously, Percy only thought of him as an annoying, nosy customer and Nico knew he was.

Anyways, he didn't have time for this anymore anyways. School was starting soon, so what could he expect to happen? What he didn't expect was the single tear that was rolling down his very own cheek and Nico had to almost laugh at how ridiculous that was.

When was the last time he had cried? Images of Bianca ran through his mind, but he pushed them back.

_Not now_, he forced himself to think. Percy's glare entered his mind again and he shivered. He downed the too-sweet coffee, before throwing the cup away.

If only he could throw away his feelings just as easily.

* * *

**_*Hey guys! So this story has been in my mind for a while and originally it was just going to be a one-shot but nah...apparently not haha. Well I imagine this story will have no more than 10 chapters, but we'll see right? Anyways, did you like it? I love reviews and thanks for reading! :)_**

**_Bai guys_**

**_-DiAnna44_**

My FanFiction Facebook Page- **DiannaFanFictionWriter**

My Tumblr- **iwannapandanamedchubs**


	2. part II

**part II**

* * *

College started again in two days and Nico knew he should start all the homework he was given, but no matter how many times he told himself to stop thinking of Percy, he just couldn't stop thinking of the third-year. Percy attended the same college as Nico, but Nico wasn't sure if Percy was aware of that fact.

He hoped that he wasn't.

Nico sighed as he stared at the television screen. He lived in a two-bedroom apartment and he lived alone. Nico still wasn't sure if he was up to living with a roommate or not. He didn't necessarily like talking to people so much, but he wanted _someone_ to talk to and hopefully distract him away from a certain crush. He thought that if someone lived with him then he could stop thinking of Percy so much.

Nico's fingers continued to press the skip button on the remote as he surfed through trying to find something at least _mildly _interesting. In the end, he ended up on some show about the Greek and Roman gods. He's always found the aspect of gods interesting. In his mind, multiple gods was more plausible than just _God_, but he wasn't a firm believer of anything really.

He sighed again, knowing that even if he were at the café today, Percy wouldn't be there. He thought himself as pathetic as he tried to remember what he did before he was introduced to Percy, but his mind came up with nothing.

Nico closed his eyes and leaned back into the sofa, wondering about all the "what if's". He soon fell asleep to the continuous discussion about the gods.

* * *

"Welcome back class. I hope you had a good winter break because I'm about to give you a lot more work," Paul Blofis said as he settled into his chair. Nico mentally groaned and physically sent him a glare. Of course, he didn't notice him since he sat in the very back, _literally._ Besides, not many people noticed him anyways. Nico had made sure of that on his very first day here by ignoring everyone.

He did his work and he answered questions when asked, but as to friends and social clubs, there were next to none in his mind. Paul Blofis taught Literature and Sciences, which didn't equate in Nico's mind but whatever, it weren't his classes anyways.

Nico still didn't know what he wanted to major in. In fact, one of the only reasons he was actually attending a college was to escape home. Every since…Bianca…life at home has been pretty rough, but before Nico's thoughts could become clouded, he forced them back down. He didn't need to think about Bianca right now, or his family.

The class seemed to go by quickly; some students fell asleep and others answered every question, but Nico didn't say a word. It's not like he really cared all that much anyways.

When class was dismissed, Nico gathered the few items he had and headed to the library. He had the next class off, and his time at the library was when he got to study and do the work he never did at home.

The walk to the library was fairly short from Literature, so when Nico had arrived, the next class hadn't even begun yet. He looked around, noticing the students who were furiously typing on the computer and those buying coffee, and smiled. The library was always like this, which Nico was grateful for. It was one of the only places that didn't really change.

He started towards his seat in the very back corner, but froze in place when he saw who were in front of him.

Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, stood right by his table, and were having, what looked like, a heated discussion. Nico stood there, confused and freaked out, but before they could turn and see him, he dashed behind a bookcase.

He debated leaving, but where would he go? This entire class period he spent in the library and the library only, and why was this the first time he's seen them in here anyways? He decided that he was going to stay and wait until they left because surly they had class, right?

He could hear Annabeth speaking and tried not being interested in their conversation, but he couldn't help it. Hell, it seemed like Nico could barely help anything lately.

"Percy, we need to talk about this," Annabeth insisted.

"Please don't." Nico heard Percy plead.

"_Percy_," Annabeth said. Nico knew he shouldn't be listening but he was concerned, despite the fact whether it was his business or not.

"Stop Annabeth. I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Percy said. Nico frowned, still curious beyond belief what was going on.

"Okay," Annabeth agreed. "Okay fine. I'm leaving. Bye." Nico dashed more into the dark as Annabeth passed by in a flurry. Nico watched her leave, wondering what Percy was thinking right now and also what the hell was going on.

Nico peeked around the corner of the bookshelf to see Percy sitting down, with his head in his arms, looking absolutely miserable. This was one of those moments Nico had no idea about what he should do. However, before Nico could figure out what he _was_ going to do, Percy's gaze had fallen upon him.

"Nico?" Percy asked, frowning a bit. Nico froze and seriously considered just running away, but he knew that would probably be considered kind of weird. Plus, running wasn't allowed in the library. Nico brought up his right hand and gave it a weird jerky movement, which was supposed to be considered a wave.

"Oh hey Percy," Nico said, acting completely surprised to see him here. Percy just stared at him so Nico continued to blab on. "Sorry man if I was interrupting you or anything. I come in here this period since I have it off and all and—" He was cut off by Percy's abrupt laughter.

"I guess you heard that, right?" Percy asked, still laughing without a trace of humor in his voice.

"What?" Nico played the innocent card. There was no way in hell he was going to be caught eavesdropping, _especially_ on the third years.

"It's okay if you did. I don't really care anyways…." Percy said. Nico only stood there, awkward about this entire situation. Well what was he supposed to do now?

"Oh…well…uhm…do you want coffee?" Nico asked suddenly as his gaze grabbed hold of a student downing a cappuccino.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Oh. Well…do you want some coffee?" Nico asked again, completely embarrassed. Nico watched with covered horror as Percy pursed his lips, debating on what he should do.

"Sure, but I'll pay," he said, standing up and heading towards the coffee machine. Nico stood, still rooted to the ground, deciding to wait until he got back, but Percy had other plans. "Are you coming or not?" he asked, cracking a smile.

"Uhm...where are we going?" Nico was referring to the fact that Percy looked as if he was just ready to leave the library altogether rather than buy from the coffee machine.

"Oh, well the coffee here is pretty good but there's this pretty good cafe like right across the school. Of course it's not _our_ wonderful cafe, but it's still pretty good. I promise," he said.

"Oh," was all Nico managed to say. And so they were off.

* * *

"What do you want?" Percy asked, managing a small glance towards Nico, who was staring at the order choices intently simply because he knew that if he looked at Percy then he would probably start to hyperventilate.

"Don't care," Nico quickly muttered, still avoiding Percy's gaze.

This was starting to feel too much like a date and yes even though Nico liked that fact, he didn't want it to be a onesided date. Percy's lips tugged upwards, causing a dimple to show and Nico cursed himself for falling into the temptation of peeking a glance at the cute boy, much less his godly lips.

"Same as always?" Percy teased. "How's a mocha frap sound? Like I said, I'll pay. You got me out of there anyways."

Nico ignored his last bit, not wanting it to be awkward. "No, it's okay. I can pay," Nico insisted. No matter how much he _did_ like the fact this was starting to seem like a date, he couldn't allow this to be considered any more like a date if he wanted to remain calm. Percy looked at him but before he could insist that he could pay, Nico was already ordering and paying. Percy just shook his head, an amused smile on his face, as he ordered and paid too.

"Okay then," Percy mumbled. Nico noticed that Percy was still smiling and he was glad. He still didn't know what was going on but it wasn't his business anyways, right? Nico pursed his lips realizing that his acceptance of the fact of not knowing did not lessen his curiosity at all.

They seated themselves down at a table by the window and sat across from each other. Silence ensued, and despite the fact that Nico was burning with questions, he didn't say a word. It was Percy who finally broke the silence.

"So you go to my college?" he asked. Nico avoided flinching at the blunt revelation.

"Yeah. I'm a freshman," he informed Percy. Percy smiled again.

"I could tell," he said. Nico instantly straightened.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" he exclaimed.

"Oh...nothing," Percy said coyly. Nico frowned at Percy's teasing tone, but before he could react he remembered Percy's "bad mood" as he called it. Nico remembered that he was caught eavesdropping and he could feel a blush starting to creep up so before Percy realized that he was slowly turning red, he brought his hand up to his face and slapped himself.

"What the hell?" Percy jumped up, apparently startled by Nico's sudden, abusive action.

"Oh. Sorry. It's just something I do when...I get impatient," Nico lied, nothing short of lame. Percy raised his eyebrows but didn't comment and all the while Nico was mentally cursing himself for saying something so utterly stupid. Another awkward silence arose between the pair of them, and once again it was Percy who broke it.

"I guess you want to know what happened, right?" he asked.

"What? Oh no...it's okay...it's not my business anyways..." Nico stuttered out.

"Well you were already eavesdropping so what's the harm. Plus, it's not like what happened is really that important to you anyways. I'm guessing human curiosity, right?" Nico started to shake his head, but realized that that excuse was perfect rather than the real truth which was that he was just so concerned about Percy he wanted to know how to help to maybe, just maybe, further his relationship with him. So he nodded. Percy started to smile but it soon fell, for reasons Nico could not determine. Percy seemed to be internally struggling, so Nico decided to help him.

"You don't have to tell me," he said.

"My mom's in a coma," Percy blurted out before he could even register what Nico had said.

_Wait...what?_

Before Nico could offer any words, Percy continued to speak.

"I found out days ago and I went off the deep end for a day or two. Annabeth tried to cheer me up but we ended up getting in a fight. She's...she hasn't had a good family life at home so all I could really feel was that she couldn't really relate, you know? I really loved my mom, but she practically hates her dad and shit shit _shit_ don't ever tell her I just said that. I swear I didn't mean to and—"

"Percy, calm down. I won't tell anybody anything," Nico promised. "Besides, it's not like I have friends anyways haha." That caught Percy's attention.

"What?" he asked.

"What?" Nico asked, equally confused. He noticed that Percy was biting his lip and Nico thought that it was freaking cute.

"You don't have any friends?" he asked. Nico looked down by the true statement.

"Oh...that," he mumbled, admiring the table and wondering when the hell their coffee would be ready. It's been like five minutes at least, right? It's not like there were that many people in here and they both just ordered two simple drinks so why the hell—

"What do you mean _that_? Nico...that's...no...just _no_," Percy exclaimed. Nico was confused.

"What's the big deal?" he asked.

"_What's the big deal?! _Dude, you're in _college_ and you're telling me you don't have any friends?! That is not _good_! Besides, it's not true anyways," he said.

"What do you mean?" Percy gave Nico a grin and a small shrug.

"Well come on man. I just told you about my...mom...and well you _are_ my friend. So I guess you can call me your only friend...which is going to change soon, you know that?" Percy explained happily. Nico just stared at him cursing everything.

He knew it was coming and he knew it was going to happen, but for some reason that was just painful.

Nico di Angelo just got friend zoned and he still wanted to know when his damn coffee would be ready, and for some reason he had the feeling that this coffee was going to be nothing short of bitter.

* * *

**_*Okay so it might seem like I'm fishing for compliments when I say this (I'm not) but I genuinely just did not like this chapter. Hopefully you did, and just wait for better chapters to come. Like okay fine, the ending was all right but I hated the beginning even though it had the elements of what I needed (Nico's living situations, college, etcetera etcetera), but hey to make up for it the chapter ITSELF is 2,330 words so yay? ^.^'_**

**_Anyways reviews are much appreciated  and thank you for reading!_**

**_Bai guys. :)_**

**_-DiAnna44_**

My FanFiction Facebook Page- **DiannaFanFictionWriter**

My Tumblr- **iwannapandanamedchubs**


	3. part III

**part III**

* * *

Nico was honestly starting to doubt that Percy had any other friends.

He was only thinking this because even though Nico was pretty much in love with the guy, Percy seemed to spend almost every waking hour with him, as _friends_ of course. After their little talk in the café that day, they exchanged numbers and Percy asked what he was doing in the library in the first place, in which Nico responded with the truth of how it was his study time blah blah blah.

To which, it is mentioned that instead of going off and doing jack shit like Percy usually does, it was a good idea, so now every second period, they would be hanging out together. Of course, Nico was delighted with this news but he was also nervous at first, because he didn't know how it would go.

And Nico knew that Percy had friends. He had tons of them. He's seen them with him loads of times, so where did they all go? It seemed almost as if Percy was ignoring everybody but him, which even though it does please Nico immensely, it is not right for Percy's current state of mind to do that.

Nico di Angelo didn't know what to do.

He stared down at the essay that he hasn't even started in utter despair. Percy would be arriving soon so maybe he could ask? Nico shook his head at that thought, immediately deciding against it. He groaned in his head and put his head down on the table. His eyes shifted to the clock.

Percy was late.

"He's been acting kind of weird though."

Nico sat up at the sound of the sudden voices. Two girls suddenly appeared from the corner of a bookcase and Nico instantly recognized him. Well isn't it just convenient that after thinking about Percy's friends, they appear.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare and Thalia Grace are two forces of nature in this college. Tons of guys are practically in love with them, constantly trying to get them to join their clubs and or go to parties with them, but they were forces of nature because they didn't care. They didn't fall in love easily according to the rumors, and another rumor is that they themselves started it.

Nico frowned at his thoughts. Who knew he was such a gossip queen?

"When's the last time you talked to him?" Thalia asked. "I tried talking to the idiot yesterday but he completely ignored me."

"He's doing the same to me. I don't know. He just goes off and I know that Annabeth knows something but when I asked, she just said that it wasn't my business. She's right; it's just that I get the feeling that something is going terribly wrong with Percy. I just don't know what," Rachel said. Nico took in her words, realizing finally that they were talking about his crush.

When did the library become such a good place for eavesdropping? They still haven't noticed him staring at them, and for that, he was undoubtedly thankful.

"What does he do during second period now?" Thalia asked.

"I don't know...a few days ago I saw him with that weird, cute freshman. You know, the one who never talks and is like emo I think," Rachel informed Thalia. Nico rolled his eyes at her description of him. He wasn't _emo_. They didn't need to go that far. Whatever. It didn't matter to Nico anyways. _  
_

"Oh shit...isn't that him?" Nico had to control the urge to roll his eyes again as he shifted his gaze immediately back down towards his essay. Did they know that people can hear what they are saying when they are literally six feet away from them? He remained quiet, giving no inclination of having heard them.

"Yeah oh my god it is," Rachel said, lowering her voice just somewhat. Nico could still hear them.

"So Percy was hanging out with him? I've never seen him before except a few times here maybe. Have they been friends long? Are you sure it's him?" Thalia asked.

"I don't know...maybe not..." Rachel said quickly. Nico forced his pen to move across the page, and he was starting to feel a little guilty for eavesdropping but hey...they were talking about him, weren't they? He had the right, he figured.

"Oh. Well let's go. We're already late for the meet up," Thalia suggested.

"Okay. Let's go," Rachel agreed.

Nico breathed a sigh of relief when they were gone, and then thought about what they said. They talked about how Percy was ignoring his friends...why?

"So I am right," he muttered to himself.

"Right about what?" Nico looked up, surprised to see Percy standing there with his usual friendly smile. It was as if the Friendzone smacked him the face again when he smiled like that.

"Oh...uhm about what the word legit. Did you know that it stands for legitimate? Interesting discovery, right?" Nico stuttered out. What the hell did he just say?

"Uhm yeah. I knew about that "interesting discovery" already. Hate to burst the excitement," Percy teased as he sat himself down.

That was when the worst thing that Nico could ever imagine happened. Rachel Elizabeth Dare and Thalia Grace had come back.

"Percy?" Rachel's voice rung out like a clattering bell in the silent library. Well...almost silent. Nico watched as Percy visibly stiffened and turned around, nice and awkwardly.

"Oh uhm hey guys," Percy said, managing a forced smile. Nico stared down at his table in shame, not wanting to make eye contact. He still found it kind of ironic that Percy had practically promised him that day in the café that he would get Nico more friends when he was ignoring his own. Why did his friends come back anyways?

"That's it? _Oh __umm hey guys?_ That's _all_ you can say when you've been ignoring us for days?" Thalia seethed, stepping closer.

"I haven't been ignoring you," Percy said. Nico grimaced. Even he could tell that Percy was lying, but the main question was _why? Why _was Percy suddenly acting as if Nico was his only friend in this world when Percy had tons? Even Nico didn't understand it. Not that he was complaining much...

"Don't lie to me, Percy Jackson," Thalia snapped. Percy paled. Nico studied Percy and saw how uncomfortable he looked. Even though Nico didn't know why he was doing it, he couldn't leave him to the sharks.

"I'm Nico," Nico said, breaking the silence that would have lasted longer if not for him. Nico bit his tongue, shocked at the fact that he said anything. Nico didn't like people, so why socialize with them?

"Yes...you are. I'm Thalia and this is Rachel. How do you know Percy?" Thalia asked. Nico simply stared at her, already cursing himself for speaking at all. He was such a fool. Especially a fool for Percy Jackson.

"Thalia..." Percy warned.

"I'm his friend," Nico suddenly whispered, trying to keep the contempt out of his voice when he said the word 'friend'. Would Percy ever know that he wants to be so much more? _No...he will not_, Nico decided.

"Yeah. Well we're Percy's friends too. At least I _think_ we are," Thalia sneered. Percy flinched.

"You know you are," he assured them.

"Really, Percy? Are you sure about that? Because it doesn't seem like you care about your friends anymore," Rachel whispered, sadly.

"I'm sorry guys...it's just...I can't really explain it..." Percy trailed off, not helping his situation at all. Thalia and Rachel both just stared at him, and Nico was starting to feel incredibly uncomfortable.

"You know...we know something happened. We don't know what since Annabeth refuses to tell us, but Percy you must know that we're here for you. We are your friends and now your spending time with someone like Nico and I don't know... it's just...confusing," Thalia stated, which made Percy bristle in his seat.

"What do you mean 'someone like Nico'? What's wrong with him?" Percy asked, almost angrily. Thalia threw a worried glance at Nico, but Nico didn't really care.

He knew what they were talking about. He's heard it all year. It's why he didn't have any friends.

Nico was...scary to most, especially to those who didn't know him, and that was also the reason that Nico liked Percy so much. Because as soon as Nico walked into that café, Percy smiled at him, and not one of those fake cashier smiles in which he's paid to do, but a real smile.

And Nico fell instantly and hard, and as soon as he said his first word to Percy, he knew there was no going back on that.

"_Nothing_ is _wrong_ with him, Percy. Calm down. It's just that you don't usually hang out with freshman, and if you do they're usually more...social," Rachel assured Percy.

"But the question is how _do_ you know Percy, Nico?" Thalia cut in.

"We met in his café," Nico said. "I was a customer and we became friends?"

"Just like that? What...did you talk for hours or something? In just one visit?" Thalia asked, too curious in Nico's opinion.

"No no. Nico's a regular there," Percy said, smiling for one of the first times that day. Nico had to blink to get rid of the sun that was practically oozing from Percy's smile.

"Why?" Thalia asked, as if horrified by that very aspect.

"What do you mean '_why'_? What's wrong with my café?!" Percy exclaimed.

"I don't know Percy. It's just that the coffee there is either too sweet or too bitter. It's you who makes it, right? You need to work on that," Thalia suggested. Percy was glaring at her and Rachel stifled a snicker.

"Yeah well whatever," Percy muttered.

"You are okay right Percy?" Rachel asked.

"Mhm," he mumbled.

"I don't believe you but I'm not going to ask. Maybe we can hang out sometime, okay? You can bring Nico of course. He's invited," she said.

"Okay," Nico and Percy said at the same time. Thalia raised an eyebrow but said nothing as she and Rachel walked off, seemingly much happier. Nico never figured out why they came back.

"Ready to start studying?" Percy asked, excitedly, turning towards Nico. Nico cracked a small smile and nodded.

"Yeah. Let's start," he agreed.

* * *

_"Come on Nico...pleasssseeeeee," Bianca asked. _

_"But I don't want to!" he protested. _

_"Nico. You cannot stay cooped up in here playing Mythomagic all day long! You need to get out and explore the world!" she exclaimed, pulling on Nico's jacket. Nico simply glared at her. _

_"I don't like people," he stated simply._

_"Nico di Angelo, you are almost seventeen and you need to stop playing your card games. I'm worried about you. Please. It's just a birthday party. Only like twenty people will be there," she added. _

_"Why should I come? I don't even know who the person who the party is being held for," he pointed out. _

_"Well you _will_ if you come," she said. Nico rolled his eyes, but he was already won over and Bianca knew it. He was already somewhat smiling. _

_"How are we going to get there?" he asked. _

_"I'll drive of course. So you're coming? Okay good. It's this Saturday and I expect you to be somewhat _social_, okay? Do you promise me, Nico?" she asked. _

_"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled, smiling now. Bianca smiled at him. _

_"Okay good."_

_As Bianca was walking away, Nico called out to her and said, "Oh and Bianca? Don't say 'it's this Saturday' as if that is in a few days. It's just tomorrow, okay?" _

_"Whatever you punk!" she called, not looking back as she rushed into her room. _

_Nico only smiled. _

_..._

_Someone screamed. _

_..._

_Apologies for his loss. _

_..._

_No one understood._

_... _

_He could still see the blood. _

_..._

_The fights at home only got worse._

_..._

_He had to leave. He needed to escape. _

* * *

Nico woke up gasping. The sweat clung to his brow like honey and he could feel the tears pricking at his eyes. He grasped his wrist, turning it over to reveal the scar, which he did every time he had that nightmare. His wrist always burned when those horrific memories would come back to him, and he knew why. But he couldn't tell anybody. Not anyone.

It was his one big secret and he was going to always keep it that way.

The burn of the cigar bud would always be scarred on him, reminding him of that night.

That night where he wished he could have stayed in his nightmares for reality had been far more worse.

* * *

**_*Hahahahaha...hahahaha...hahaha...haha...ha. Welcome to the angst. So yah I didn't like this chapter all that much. And I realized that this fic might be just a lot longer then ten chapters. I see the future of this fic and it is wonderful. ^.^' Anyways, I love it when you guys review because I like knowing what you thought of my chapter and etcetera etcetera, you get the gist. Please leave a review? Sorry that this chapter isn't longer but oh well, over time the chapters will probably get longer._**

**_HM. Just now realized there was not an ounce of coffee in this chapter. Oh well. Hahaha. Needed to set up the ANGST. :3 _**

**_Well bai guys. :)_**

**_-DiAnna44_**

My FanFiction Facebook Page- **DiannaFanFictionWriter**

My Tumblr- **iwannapandanamedchubs**


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